The Call Of Abraham Series

Lessons from the life of Abraham

Faith and Obedience: The Call of Abram

Welcome to this series of messages on the life of Abraham – or Abram as we know him up to Genesis 17. By studying the life of this man of faith we can learn so much that is relevant to us. In the story of his life we gain fresh perspectives on our Christian experiences! We come to appreciate just why this wonderful patriarch of old is described to us as our father in the faith and we – his children, according to Galatians 3:7.

We first come across Abram in Genesis chapter 11 which sets out the line of descent after the flood, from Shem through to Terah and his sons: Abram, Nahor and Haran. The family lived in the city of Ur in southern Mesopotamia. Ur, known as Ur of the Chaldeans, was an important cultural centre and its ruins are situated in modern-day Iraq. We know that Abram’s family to the children of Israel: were idol-worshippers. In Joshua 24:2,

God says

Long ago your forefathers, including Terah, the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the river and worshipped other Gods.

But Genesis 11:31-32 tell us that the family packed up and migrated:

Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

What had caused them to move? Why did they suddenly set out for the unknown land of Canaan – only, of course, to settle down in the city of Haran in North western Mesopotamia? The answer is given to us in the beginning of Genesis 12. Abram had left his homeland as a direct result of God’s specific calling in his life

Gen. 12:1 says this:

The Lord had said to Abram “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you.

Shortly before he was stoned to death for his faith, Stephen said the following to the Jews:

‘The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. “Leave your country and your people.” God said, “and go to the land I will show you”. So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living’ (Acts 7:2-4)

Through Joshua, in Joshua 24:3, God described the overall journey and its results:

‘But I took your father Abraham from the land beyond the river and led him throughout Canaan and gave him many descendants.’

So Abram was called by God! While living in the land of death, a land of idolatry, he heard the word of God and responded.

In the same way, each of us has heard the voice of God and lived.

In John 5:25 Jesus said:

‘I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.’

Paul, in Romans 8:29, puts it this way; ..and those he predestined, he also called; those he called he also justified.

But Abram wasn’t just called to leave his native city, Ur of the Chaldeans. He was called to travel to the land of Canaan – the land that God would show him. And you and I weren’t saved just to escape this world of death and judgment. We’ve been delivered from this present evil world for a purpose – in our case, to inhabit a spiritual land.

Our Canaan is described in the book of Ephesians as ‘The heavenly places’ and it’s a place of fellowship and communion with God in our lives.

Yet it’s all too possible for us to be saved, to be called from our Ur of the Chaldeans - the place of idol worship - yet never enjoy the blessing of true fellowship with God in our lives!

Going back to our story, it’s obvious that Abram couldn’t fellowship with God in Ur of the Chaldeans. He had to leave his home and family and step out in faith. And neither can we have fellowship with God if we remain attached to this world. So when we’re called by God, the first thing he asks us to do, is to leave our country, our people and our father’s household. In other words, he requires us to turn away from our old way of life! All those worldly activities: those relationships with this world - with the people of this world - that would hinder us entering into full fellowship and communion with Him.